Rommates
by lovehighlighter
Summary: Holly Boarding House is open to students and those just trying to get off their feet! That being said, what are you doing here? This is my room… HoriKashi chapter story.
1. Carnation Room

_Holly Boarding House is open to students and those just trying to get off their feet! That being said, what are you doing here? This is my room… HoriKashi chapter story._

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><p><strong>Roommates<strong>

_**Chapter One . Carnation Room**_

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><p>What appeared before Masayuki's eyes upon entering the bedroom made him drop his bags loudly. The one on the bed across from him jumped at the sound and almost fell from the soft mattress. The lollipop in her mouth hung loosely from her dropped jaw and the two just stared at each other for a moment.<p>

"Kashima?" Masayuki breathed out. He didn't know if he was imagining things- he couldn't possibly be- but Kashima Yuu was there, in the flesh, sitting within his newly acquired room from the nearby boarding house where he would be living in for the next few months. She was there, staring at him with a stunned expression, just casually laying across one of the beds in the two-person room.

For some reason, that made him want to hit her.

"Se-senpai? What are you doing here?" she asked, finally snapping out of her stupor. She quickly got up from the blue sheets and dusted off her clothes to stand at full height.

"You're asking me? I rented a room here," Masayuki explained, "I plan to live here for a while before graduating. And," the boy shuffled his hands through his pockets before finding a folded slip of paper. He shoved it toward her, "this is my room."

The blue-haired female took the paper from his hands and nodded upon reading the his scribbled handwriting.

"Yup! This is the Carnation Room!"

After Masayuki took the note back, he gave her a questioning look. "And? What about you? Why are you just casually lying around this room? Here to visit?"

Yuu laughed loudly, and Masayuki's brows knitted together.

"Actually, my aunt owns this boarding house," she explained.

"So you're here to see her?"

The female laughed again, this time more nervously and explained, "Actually... I kinda got kicked out of the house..."

"What?"

"It's no big deal or anything! My mom just wants me to live closer to the school! You see... She got really really mad last time because I was continuously late and so she thought this would be a good solution, even only for like a month or two."

Masayuki just stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Hori-senpai? "

"Are you an idiot?"

Yuu crossed her arms and pouted, "No!"

Hori sighed, "That still doesn't explain why you're in this room."

"Ah! Right!" The green-eyed eyed female's face suddenly lit up and her hands returned to her side. She gave the upperclassman a formal bow and smoothly spoke, "Nice to meet you, I'm Kashima Yuu. I look forward to rooming with you!"

This time, Masayuki actually did hit her.

As she grumbled on ground over her throbbing head, Masayuki stepped past her and brought his bags to his bed.

"You have _got _to be kidding me... Rooming with you?"

"What? You don't want to?" Kashima pursed her lips in disappointment. "We're slept in the same room before!"

The brunette's face flushed.

"That wasn't on purpose! And that's a totally different situation than the one you're in now. I didn't come here to babysit you."

"Senpai, that's so mean," Yuu frowned. She watched from her position on the ground as he ignored her and started unpacking his bags. He didn't seem to have brought much.

Kashima couldn't help but wonder, was he okay? Was he really staying there to be closer to the school? Hori usually took the same train as her- they lived north of the city Roman High School was located in- and as far as she knew he was never late. For someone who was such a stickler for being on time, she couldn't see him being in the same predicament as her. Was he having trouble with his studies? Living closer would mean he could cut back time on transportation and use it for studying. But if that was the case, couldn't he just cut back on extracurriculars? He might be president of the drama club, but that doesn't necessarily mean he had to be present at every single meeting- especially if it was affecting his grade. Asides from that, what else did President do after school anyway? She didn't see him hanging out with others in his grade outside of the club often. On the rare occasion that she did, he'd end up abandoning them to scold her. Would that mean she was a friend stealer? Was he being relocated to the boarding house because he's been avoiding other responsibilities by lecturing her and one his old friends got extremely pissed and threatened to break into his house and- and- and-

"Oi, Kashima? Are you okay?"

In her worry, Yuu didn't notice he had finished setting up whatever he had and was towering over her squatted position.

"Don't think too much. You're eyebrows are going to form a caterpillar," he joked, ruffling her dark blue hair.

She was silent. Then, she laughed.

She was definitely over exaggerating things. If Yuu had been asked, though, she would've said she was excited and happy to have her beloved Hori-senpai as her roommate. But she wasn't asked and he probably didn't feel like hearing about it just then, so she laughed.

"Hori-senpai, if you don't want me staying with you, I can move to the Amaryllis room. All of the rooms here are currently being rented out but I can switch with one of the current tenants who isn't here often. Takashi only comes home for dinner and to sleep and always ends up waking up early."

The male, who was now seated on his comforter, froze. "Well… Who would you be rooming with then?"

"I'm not sure. He wasn't here when I arrived yesterday, they said he's on a class trip right now," Yuu explained, laying down on the wooden floor.

Masayuki thought about it, and Yuu had to lean up to look at him to make sure he was still paying attention to the conversation. As the brunette ran a hand through his hair, she plopped back down.

"Just stay here, Kashima. I wouldn't mind it too much. I'd feel more uncomfortable putting you in someone else's hands."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The boy lightly kicked her foot and smirked, "You're troublesome."

Yuu stretched as she yawned, "Well, as long as Senpai's taking care of me, I think it'll be okay."

"That being said, if you're going to take a nap, get on your bed, stupid. It's dirty down there and I'll probably end up tripping over your long-ass legs."

She couldn't help but laugh again.

"Hey, new guys, we're having dinner now," called a deep voice from the open doorway. Standing on the other side of the empty frame was a relatively tall boy with bleached blonde hair. He had a broad forehead and a relatively cubic built. Masayuki was almost (almost…) frightened by his serious gaze and rough appearance.

"Oh! Okay, thanks, Dave," Yuu smiled. The male nodded and walked away as Masayuki gaped at her.

"Dave? Is he a foreigner?"

"Nah, his parents just really wanted to give him a western name or something. He's from the Lilac Room which is at the end of our hallway," Kashima explained. Hori helped her up and they made their way to the dining room. "He's pretty nice. My family has known his for a while."

When they entered the dining room, the first thing Masayuki noticed was the oak table placed in the center of the room. There were four plain white chairs on each side and one extravagant seat at the head. The next thing he noticed was the lady within that chair. Her hair was bleached an ash blonde and her cherry lips grinned at him. She stood up at their entrance, which caused the already seated boarders to face them.

"Welcome! Everyone, these are the new boarders," the lady explained, walking up and placing a hand on Yuu's shoulder. The blue-haired girl smiled. "This is my niece. She will be staying here for a while and her mom requested for her to help out and work as well, so sometimes you will see her in the kitchen."

"It's nice to meet all of you! My name is Kashima. I'm a second year student at Roman High School! I look forward to living with you."

Continuing, the landlady then gestured to Masayuki, "This is Hori. From what Yuu's told me, he's her senior at Roman and he's the president of the drama club. The two will be rooming together in the Carnation Room."

The male bowed and introduced himself as well, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Hori Masayuki."

The landlady nodded when he straightened himself up, two females came from the door at the back of the room, which he assumed was the kitchen. They started handing out plates and silverware as another boy came in with plates of food. Kashima quickly seated herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Hori. I'm Ayaka. Yuu's told me a lot about you. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to any of our meetings, but I'm still glad you decided to board here. Was Shiori able to help you with the papers and everything?" the landlady spoke. He smiled.

"It's fine, I'm extremely grateful that you're letting me stay here. Shiori gave me all of the contracts and I had them signed and we also discussed all of the payments and everything… But is there anything else I need to know?" Masayuki asked.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure what she told you and what she didn't, but I'll just explain what generally goes on. So, everyday asides from Saturday, the boarding house staff will prepare dinner for the tenants. Most of the people here aren't here for dinner, and if that's the case, we expect you to call. On weekdays, they also provide breakfast. Every other meal besides that, you will have to prepare yourself or you can go out and buy.

"We have five staff members, and they schedule their working days amongst themselves. Their rooms are behind that door," Ayaka gestured to the red door in the large room. Just as she did, one of the girls who had been passing out plates hurriedly walked to it. The blonde lady continued, "They are here not only to cook, but to wash the dishes, take out the trash, and clean up. However, they will not clean up the hallways and the rooms. Those are left up to you. We expect you to be mature about it and keep it tidy.

"Most of our tenants are high school students, so the staff members also help with tutoring. Incase anyone gets sick or hurt, they are also entrusted with first aid kits and will take care of you if needed.

"There isn't a bedtime setup, but if you're too noisy past ten, you will be punished. Punishments include being on trash duty and cleaning up the bathrooms. Sometimes, I will even throw in washing the dishes for a week to give our staff a break. If you're staying out past ten, we expect you to call then too.

"That's about as much as I can think of for now. Please remember that boarding fee is due once every two months! If you have any problems or questions, feel free to ask me," she finished up. Hori nodded.

"I'll be sure to do so. Thank you, Ms. Ayaka."

"Also, I hope you don't mind rooming with Yuu. She's very fond of you, so I know it won't be much of a problem for her, but if you aren't comfortable with it, I'll try to sort her into a different room."

The male nodded, reassuring her that it wasn't a problem at all, before the two went to seat themselves. As he took his place next to Yuu, she handed Masayuki a plate already filled with food.

"I saved you some of the good stuff! It's great, try it!" she exclaimed, mouth full of rice. "So, what did you two talk about?"

"Nothing, just some rules."

"Is she making you work too? She's having me go grocery shopping for everyone," she pouted.

Masayuki chuckled as he started his meal, "It's about time someone put you to work. Make sure you don't skimp on it like you do with club activites."

"I don't skip that often!"

"Right... When do you plan to go shopping? I'll help you out," the male offered. Instantly, her face lit up.

"You will? Cool! Let's go on Friday!"

"Alright. After club activities."

"Of course, Senpai! You know, like half of them already have stuff they want to be bought. There's a list in the living room. It's crazy! One girl wants three pints of soda and a box of chocolate. Isn't that weird? Maybe she's having a party. Speaking of parties, one of the princesses from school invited me to hers. She's very nice and thinking about joining the club! She's really good at acting..."

Hori smiled, and let the younger female excitedly chatter on and on as she jumped from topic to topic.

He was glad they'd be rooming together.

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><p>(AN) Thank you for reading!

I'm so sorry for those super long paragraphs that literally have nothing to do with horikashi ahh;; I'm super pumped for this series though! I hope I'll be able to write it as well as it sounds in my mind… Maybe for once I'll finish something...

As for first chapters go, this might be the longest thing I've written yet… It took a long time.

I really wanted to finish this piece before announcing my **HoriKashi fanfic contest**! We don't have enough fanfiction and I'm super pumped about fandom contribution, so if you would like to enter, please go to my horikashi tumblr side blog: horisexual. The due date will be on Dec. 2nd and the topic is Kashima's birthday/Halloween! I hope you will be able to participate.

If you don't have a tumblr account yet want to participate, that's totally fine! My follow will instead be to your profile (or maybe we an extra fanfic? Prizes are negotiable). Additionally, if you could donate a prize, I'd be super grateful.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please look forward to it's continuation. Any criticism or feedback is appreciated!


	2. Plums

_Holly Boarding House is open to students and those just trying to get off their feet! That being said, what are you doing here? This is my room… HoriKashi chapter story._

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><p><strong>Roommates<strong>

_**Chapter Two . Plums**_

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><p>Masayuki woke to the scent of plums. After forcing his eyes open, he squinted at the wall almost immediately, almost as in a grimace. It wasn't that he didn't like it- the smell of plums, the pale yellow sheets, the rustle of leaves outside and the soft snoring in the distance- he was just relatively concerned. Where was he?<p>

After laying on his soft mattress for awhile and recollecting yesterday's events, the brown haired boy sat up and looked past his bed frame to the one that started at the foot of his. He saw the top of Yuu's blue head and her relatively thin frame expanding and collapsing with each smooth breath she took.

Masayuki may have stared at her for a good whole minute before actually getting up. He made no effort to drag his clothes to the bathroom to change (Kashima was asleep anyway and it's not like he hadn't accidentally changed in front of her before) and switched to a new shirt and got out of his comfy sweatpants for a pair of jeans right in front of the dresser, just a few feet from the handsome female's bed.

The hallway was quiet, he noticed, when he finally left the room. Checking his watch, he couldn't help but wonder why they were all still sleeping when it was already nine. He shrugged. Maybe they were all like Yuu and just slept in on Saturdays.

That being said, remembering the mini orientation the landlady gave him, breakfast wouldn't be served today. So after a quick glance of the growing list of groceries he would eventually have to get by the end of the week, he put on his worn pair of sneakers and was off to the convenience store.

Masayki was glad he moved in on a Friday because he couldn't imagine wasting his time on a school day to get lost. The trip to the store was about ten minutes longer than he had expected it to be. It wasn't much of a hassle, honestly. He forgot his camera within his room, but he made sure to take some pictures on his phone that would work as background references. He found a relatively nice looking back alley (it was quite ironic, seeing how brightly painted the walls were and the green plants being grown from windowsills), a beautiful community garden, and a street littered with petals from the surrounding trees. He made up scenarios such as Suzuki stealing Mamiko away from an outing with friends and taking her to the alleyway, or Mamiko joining the gardening club in an effort to impress Suzuki, or the two characters from Let's Love walking down the street in the middle of spring on their way to school.

By the time the high schooler had finally made it to the store, he had taken at least twenty photos.

Quickly, he had bought a few buns and a rice ball or two (he was expecting to walk back and be faced with a hungry Kashima) and as he was exiting the store, he ran into a larger male.

"Ah, sorry."

"No, it's my bad," Masayuki apologized before stopping himself from walking on. "Oh. Nozaki."

Suddenly, the boy's plans changed and he was on his way to the taller boy's house.

"I forgot you lived in the area. Is that the only local convenience store near here?" Hori asked, taking a bite of his purchases. The underclassmen shook his head.

"No, but it's the best one in my opinion. A lot of rather stylish people go there too, so sometimes I walk over for clothing references," Nozaki explained. Then, he asked, "That being said, what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting to run into you. I'm glad you're willing to do backgrounds today."

"It's fine; I want to get the background done before this Friday. I have some plans that day. Recently, I moved into a boarding house in the area," Masayuki answered. Nozaki nodded.

The brown-haired male had finished eating a good amount of his purchases upon arriving at the taller's house. As they sat down, he continued talking about the boarding house.

"It's a pretty nice place. I've only been there for one day, but everyone seems relatively friendly. Kashima's there too," he added.

"Kashima? Is the house co-ed?"

"Yeah. Hher aunt owns the place. There aren't anymore rooms available, so she's actually rooming with me."

"Really? That's kinda interesting. Are you two getting along?"

Masayuki shrugged, "It's only been one day. It's the same as always, honestly. Last night, I'm pretty sure I actually fell asleep to her rambling."

"What is it like there? Have you met any girls?" Nozaki asked, taking out a notebook. The upperclassmen raised an eyebrow. Was there anything specifically interesting with what he was saying?

"What is it like? There's a lot of rooms so there's a lot of people. It's about twenty four people living in the same house but they're not all there at the same time so I've only met about six of them. Chores are relatively divided up, everyone's in charge of their own rooms and stuff, but Kashima's specifically in charge of groceries and there's a staff who cooks some of our meals."

Nozaki nodded along, taking note of everything.

"As for girls, I only briefly met a few of them. I can't say much about them. Kashima and one of the staff members are the only ones I've really talked to so far."

"I got it!" Umetarou suddenly exclaimed, causing Masayuki to jump.

"You've got… what, exactly?"

"The next plot point for Let's Love!"

"Really? What are you planning to do, make Mamiko have to move out just randomly?"

"No, better. They go on a trip and they have to stay in a hotel and Suzuki is one of the employees!"

"That has close to no relationship to what I just said… I mean there's some, but it's a stretch…" Masayuki sighed.

The taller male ignored him, quickly jotting down notes for the idea. With another sigh, Masayuki just let him be and finished up his background work for the day.

When he finally left Umetarou's apartment, it was already one. He returned to the boarding house, expecting for there to be more activity- maybe even some girls fawning over Kashima already- but only three other boarders were out and about.

He remembered Dave from yesterday. He was sitting in the living room in front of the television. As he passed by, he gave him a curt nod, which was returned.

"Ah, you must be the new fellow, Masayuki, right?" a tall, green eyed male with dyed white hair addressed him, holding a plate in one hand and a cup in the other. A smaller girl followed behind him, doing the same.

"I've never seen you around before! You must be Hori!" the female exclaimed. Masayuki nodded in reply.

"I'm Haruo, and this is my little sister, Izumi. We live in the sympetalous hallway. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too"

"I think Kashima just left, she said she had a date with some princesses today. You know how she is," the male laughed, answering a question no one mentioned.

"Ahh, is that so... Did she say what time she'd be back? I haven't talked to her yet today, she was dead asleep this morning," the brown-haired boy asked. The two siblings shrugged.

"Sorry man, she didn't mention a time. It probably won't take her longer than a few hours though."

Masayuki returned to his room. '_Well, that's good_,' he thought. '_At least I won't have to worry about her lunch_.'

The male lay down on his bed. The clock ticked monotonously in the background.

Why did he have to worry about her so much?

Restlessly, the boy turned over. He didn't have much to do. What was he even planning on doing today?

He glared at the ceiling.

He was bored.

After an hour or so of lazing around, the male collected his things and went off to the dorm bath.

The bathroom wasn't too bad. It wasn't too big. It could probably only fit 5-7 people in the tub at the same time. Masayuki was the only one there.

The male skipped soaking in the large tub, remembering his change of clothes was still in one of his bags. He sighed and returned to the room.

His reaction to the sight before him might as well have just been a repeat of yesterday's.

"Oh. Senpai? Why are you just standing there… In your underwear?"

"Sh-shit." Masayuki scrambled for his towel which had fallen to the ground out of shock. "I could say the same to you- idiot," the male mumbled, quickly entering and closing the door behind him. The girl had raised her shirt halfway up her torso- her camisole underneath rising up enough to expose her stomach.

The brown-eyed boy avoided looking at her. He _totally _wasn't noticing her lack of real pants or anything- _nope_! Those tight shorts of hers that she wore under her skirts was totally not attracting his attention _at __all_.

"What, is there something wrong with my clothes?" the female asked, proceeding to fully toss her shirt off. "I thought this camisole looked cute," she pouted.

"Just hurry up and put something on!" Masayuki yelled, turning around. Was she doing this on purpose or was she always that oblivious? He tried to focus his attention on finding his own shirt and pants.

Yuu laughed, "Senpai, your ears are red!"

In anger, the male threw his shirt at her. She _totally _was doing it on purpose. Quickly, he put on some fresh clothes and stormed out.

"The rice balls on the desk are for you!" He called back, leaving as fast as possible.

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><p>(AN) Thank you for reading!

What's a boarding AU without catching your partner changing?

I honestly was going to end the chapter right after Masayuki left Nozaki's house, but that would've been too short and too little development ahaha;;;; I didn't think I was going to finish this today, but double updates are nice :) I honestly might actually add more to this chapter later because something about it is bothering me...

I honestly don't know where I'm going with this story (in case you can't tell already). I did have an idea as I was starting it, but new AUs keep popping up but I can't write so many chapter stories at the same time...

I'm sorry for all the random OCs! But for the setting, there's going to be a lot more… It'll be a pain to keep track of them all… Hopefully I can figure out what to do with their daily school life so I can avoid coming up with new ones…

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Any criticism or feedback is appreciated!


	3. Script

Holly Boarding House is open to students and those just trying to get off their feet! That being said, what are you doing here? This is my room… HoriKashi chapter story.

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><p><strong>Roommates<strong>

_**Chapter Three . Script**_

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><p>Monday soon arrived without any trouble. Masayuki had stumbled out of bed a few minutes before his alarm clock rang, while Yuu slept through it. So, to wake her up, he yanked the soft white sheets and she awoke with a thud.<p>

"What? A boarding house?" Chiyo inquired after school. She was helping the drama club with their sets again. The tall female next to her grinned.

"Yup! It's my aunt's place. It's really nice there. You should come over!" Yuu suggested energetically.

"Would it be alright if I did? Don't they have a rule on volume there or something?"

The blue-haired girl waved Sakura's worries away. "Nah, they're pretty lax. Anyway, Hori-senpai's there too!"

"He is? Why?"

"He's living there! Actually, he boards with me. In my room."

Chiyo dropped her paintbrush almost instantly.

"He's what?"

"Ah, sorry, should I say 'our room'? He just recently moved in and it's the only room left." Yuu patted the smaller teen on the back before continuing, "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine with having you over anyway."

"Is that so?" Chiyo laughed nervously. "Well… How is it? Living him?"

"It's great! President always ends up going to bed before I do, and he's always waking up before me too. This morning , he made sure I got ready in time."

"That's good! So you're relationship with him is improving?"

"Oh, totally! You know, Saturday, he went out and bought me rice balls for a snack. I saw the bag when I returned home and wondered what it was. Turns out he was in the bath and he walked in while I was changing-"

"What?"

"-It was an accident- and he froze for like a whole minute. It was hilarious!" Kashima laughed. Chiyo could only raise an eyebrow at this. "He even dropped his towel too- ah, by the way, he totally wears briefs- and when I asked him what he was doing his face turned red and he almost slammed the door behind him!"

"Kashima, what did you do to him, oh my god," Chiyo asked in shock. In reply, the female's grin grew even larger.

"Nothing much, I just teased him a little. I can't believe how bold he is- he got angry at me and walked out of the room without his shirt! Can you believe-"

"KASHIMA, SHUT UP!" Masayuki shouted from across the room, his face flushed a deep red as several underclassmen held him down. Sakura jumped in surprise and covered Yuu's mouth to prevent her from blabbing and angering the short brunette anymore than she already had.

However, even with the orange-haired girl's hand over her mouth, everyone knew of the cheeky grin under there.

After another hour or so of painting sets and such, it was time to lock up.

"Senpai, are you ready to go?" Yuu called to the brown-eyed boy who was finishing up with cleaning.

"Ah, sorry Kashima. I can't walk home with you, I need to drop by Nozaki's place for a bit."

"Ehhhh, why?" the taller girl pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I need to help him with something. Sakura is coming with me."

Masayuki couldn't ignore the look of disappointment flashing over his underclassmen face.

"You know, tomorrow I'll need you to show me how to get home…" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. Instantly, Kashima cheered up. Masayuki could swear he saw her emit a few rays of sunshine.

"Ah! Really?"

"Well, yeah. I was only able to get to school today because of you. I'm still not used to the path, you know."

"Then, you'll walk with me tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Now hurry up, your fangirls are starting to gather by the door again."

"Senpai, let's get a parfait tomorrow!"

"No. Don't push it," Hori scolded, lightly flicking her on the forehead. "Now hurry up and go, idiot. I'll see you at the boarding house."

With an obedient nod, Yuu gave him a mock salute and sauntered off. The shorter male let out a lengthy sigh.

"God, she's a lot of work," he complained on the walk to Umetarou's place. Chiyo tilted her head in confusion.

"Who? Kashima-kun?"

"Yeah. Her," Masayuki replied, rubbing his temples. "It's only been like four days and I'm already so stressed."

"Does she really bother you that much? She seemed really happy that you two were rooming together," Sakura mused with a small grin. Masayuki bit the inside of his cheek.

"Well… I guess she doesn't bother me too much. But she really is a pain. I'm already always taking care of her."

By this time, the two had already made the 10 minute walk to Umetarou's house and they started to climb the stairs.

"I think you're being too uptight," Chiyo commented, nodding to herself. She knocked on Umetarou's door before excusing herself and simply walking in. Hori followed suit.

"Ah! Welcome!" The tall male greeted the two. "Thank you for coming even though it's so late. We're a bit behind, but I think we'll be able to finish this chapter's serialization by Friday," Nozaki explained, leading them straight into the room they always worked in. Soon, they were all set up and they began working.

"Anyway, Hori-senpai, don't you think this is a good chance?" Sakura asked after a minute or so of utter focus.

"A good chance?" he repeated.

Nozaki butted in, "Ah you mean him living with Kashima?" Chiyo nodded. "I think it's interesting," the tall male commented.

"A good chance for what?" Masayuki repeated, resting his cheek against his palm.

Chiyo smiled, "To get closer to Kashima, of course!"

"Yeah, yeah! Living in the same house and the same room has got to lead to some heartwarming development," Nozaki encouraged, picking up his notebook from the middle of nowhere. Hori felt the need to hold back a grimace.

"Get closer to her? Why would I need to do that?"

"I don't know," Chiyo confessed, shrugging her shoulders, "I just know she seems really excited about it. Why don't you use this as a chance to make sure she focuses on drama club the way you would like her too?"

"Is it necessary? She does a good enough job already," the brunnette doubted.

"Well, you're always complaining about her anyway. Living with her has to provide something good," Umetarou noted, to which Masayuki shook his head.

"You only like this situation because you can use it for your manga," he sighed.

"You know, Senpai, if you really don't like rooming with her, you could always switch rooms with someone else," Sakura suggested. At that, Hori almost scowled.

"I never said I _didn't_ like it. But it's not like I love it either," he sighed yet again. "We've already considered that too, anyway. If it was like that then…" he impatiently started tapping his fingers on the table, "then she'd be rooming with someone else… I don't want that."

Nozaki nodded intently and made sure to take note. Chiyo glanced over at him before smiling to herself.

"Yeah... I understand," she told him. Masayuki raised an eyebrow. She was probably misunderstanding something. He brushed it off.

"Getting closer to her wouldn't be a bad thing," he switched back to the previous topic. "She isn't a bad person. But it'll get really annoying really quickly if it's exactly like how it is at school."

"Maybe you can encourage her a bit," Nozaki suggested. Chiyo nodded in agreement.

"You could help her practice lines and stuff! Kashima really loves your acting, she would really appreciate it," she added.

"She's perfect enough already, she doesn't need much practice with her lines," Masayuki scowled, a bit frustrated.

"But it would motivate her! You're a very hard worker senpai, and maybe a little bit of you would rub off on her," the small girl insisted.

"Wouldn't it be bad if Kashima rubbed off on him, though?" Nozaki butted in. Chiyo turned around, shocked.

"N-Nozaki-kun, don't say that!"

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><p>When Masayuki finally returned to the Holly House, it was almost five. There was a lot of noise, several of the boarders were idling around in the living room or had started eating dinner.<p>

"I'm… I'm home," he said, quite meekly. About three people total heard him and returned the greeting. He quickly made his way to his room.

With a sigh, he closed the oak door, and was surprised to see the room empty. Yuu's bag and uniform was thrown messily on her bed, and the script for the new play was open on her desk, highlighted and annotated at different sections. After removing his tie, Hori walked up to it and quietly flipped through it.

Then, the door started to open, and he quickly threw it down and pretended he was still changing.

"Oh, welcome back, Hori-senpai," Kashima greeted upon her entrance. "When did you get back?"

Masayuki tried not to look like he was caught red-handed. He glanced over at the playwright on her desk and hoped she didn't notice it was open to a different page. "Ah- you know- just a few minutes ago."

"Did you eat dinner yet? They have the dishes laid out and everything. Today's dinner is hamburger steak!" she exclaimed. She made her way to her dresser, stopping briefly at her desk. Masayuki could feel his heartbeat echoing within his chest.

She continued on, as if not noticing.

"I just finished eating. It was really good, you know? Anyway, I'm planning on taking a bath soon. Some of the girls invited me," she laughed. At Hori's lack of response, she asked, "Senpai? Are you okay?"

The male forced himself to calm his own breathing. She didn't notice. Even if she did, there was nothing wrong with it, right? It wasn't like it was her diary. It was a script, for god's sake, that _he _assigned to her after _he _got Nozaki to write it.

"Ye-yeah. I'm okay. Sorry, I was spacing out," he explained, finishing unbuttoning his shirt and throwing on a new one. "So, hamburger steak, right? Are they always that fancy?"

"Nah, sometimes they just order pizza from down the block. It's actually pretty good."

"I see. Well, I'm going to go eat now."

"Okay! Have fun!"

"Yeah… You too…"

When he finally left the room, Masayuki let out a sigh of relief.

"_Safe…_"

He spent the next hour or so eating with the other boarders, getting to know them as they discussed a wide range of subjects. It wasn't too bad, but he felt that interacting with so many people in one house was pretty much exhausting.

When he finally returned back to the room, Yuu was lounging around on her bed, with a handheld console in her hand.

"Hey," she greeted distractedly. Masayuki glanced at the clock.

"Kashima, shouldn't you be studying? Did you even do anything productive today?"

"Nah…" she nonchalantly replied, pouting at her video game's screen. "I mean, I went to club today, Senpai, isn't that enough?"

"Club activities have nothing to do with academics you know," he scolded, sitting upon his own bed. Yuu sat up and turned to grin at him.

"Come on, Hori-senpai! I rarely study and I'm still fine!"

The boy rolled his eyes at her. "So you say."

Yuu pouted. "You sound like my mom."

Masayuki leaned over their bed frames and flicked her in the forehead. "Shut up, idiot. I don't know how you're so lucky to get the top score in every exam, but you really should study more. Don't waste your youth!"

"Isn't studying a waste of my youth?" she questioned with a laugh, rubbing the newly inflicted sore spot.

"Not necessarily. If it's taking over your life, then yes, but it's still needed. Some of the things you're taught is beneficial," Masayuki insisted, crossing his arms.

Kashima groaned a laid back down.

"Now you _really _sound like her!"

The two were quiet for a moment.

"You know… If you ever need help with studying or with your lines or something, you can always ask me," he told her, focusing his gaze upon the wooden floors. He started counting the little marks he saw upon the wood and the quiet ticking of each second the clock made. The continuous silence felt like an eternity.

"Would you really?" Yuu finally asked.

"Yeah. Of course," he answered, leaning back. "I mean, it'd be easier, being in the same room and all. I can do it whenever… I don't mind."

The tall female let out a small laugh. "Thanks, senpai. I appreciate it."

Masayuki finally faced her, and couldn't help but mimic the small smile playing on her lips.

"Ah… So… Friday. You still have to get the groceries, right?" he asked. Yuu nodded.

"Yup. Auntie said she would give me enough money on Thursday so we can go pick up the stuff whenever on Friday."

"Then, I'll make sure to end club a little earlier than usual. Just make sure to get there on time, okay?"

The green-eyed girl smiled even brighter. "Of course, Senpai!"

Maybe getting closer with her wouldn't really be a bad thing.

* * *

><p>(AN) Thank you for reading!

Monthly chapters seem to work well for this :P (especially after I find inspiration)

Anyway, to all of you those who have been following me for awhile and watching my writing develop for this couple, I want to thank you a lot! Your support means a lot ;u; I've never been very active in a fandom, but I always feel really motivated within this community (even though it doesn't seem like it;;; I still feel very shy and withdrawn, but I'm still very happy with how I've developed so far)

My Christmas gift to you all is a fanfic I had been working on since November! It's already up (I know not everyone celebrates Christmas, but it's a prevalent holiday in Japan so I was thinking it was okay but you don't have to read it, I might have something else that would suffice later) so I hope you will get to read it! It's titled Coffee and is just a simple oneshot based on a prompt. I did some editing on it earlier, but I'm sure there's still mistakes, so please tell me if you notice anything.

Again, thank you for your support. I'm extremely grateful, even if I forget to respond to your kind reviews.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Any feedback or criticism is appreciated. ^^


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